Watford’s need for defence stability leads to surprising target, handpicked by director of football

Going under the radar for most of the season, Watford, despite being currently 15th, are still on course to improve on last season’s points tally with three games to go.

Having reached the 40 point mark, Walter Mazzarri only needs two wins from their last three games to better last year’s 45 points, but with games against Everton, Chelsea and Manchester City left, that could be difficult.

Not mathematically safe from relegation just yet, it would take a monumental collapse for the Hornets to return to the Championship, and it appears the club are confident enough they will stay up as they are already planning their transfer window for another season in the Premier League.

According to Het Laatste Nieuws in Belgium, Watford are considering trying to bring in FC Barcelona’s Thomas Vermaelen to bolster a defence that has conceded 58 goals this campaign, which is just two fewer than rock bottom Sunderland.

Despite already having a group of experienced defenders, their inability to stop the ball from finding the back of the net has seemingly left the club’s staff rather unimpressed, leading to a hunt for reinforcements in the upcoming transfer window.

The Belgian website report that Luke Dowling, the club’s director of football, has placed the former Arsenal centre-back on a list of potential targets, even if no ‘concrete steps’ have been taken to make the signing a reality.

Considering the Hornets’ need for someone able to step in right away, we’re not sure bringing in a player whose last complete season was in 2013 is the right option, but what do we know?

The 31-year-old defender was loaned to AS Roma by the Catalan club this season, but failed to make much of an impact, only playing 609 minutes of football spread out over 12 appearances.